Lantern holder for road crossings



Aug. 18, 1936. w. A. LOWE 2,051,527

LANTERN HOLDER FOR ROAD CROSSINGS Filed March 16, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I llTru INVENTOR. MLL/AM A.LOWE

afiCazaa/v ATTORNEY5 INVENTOR.

Aug. 18, 1936. A LO 2,051,527

LANTERN HOLDER FOR ROAD CROSSINGS Filed March 16, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WILLIAM A .LOWE

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 18, 1936 warren stmrss ears as o r-F1 c-E 3 Claims.

This invention relates to lantern holders for road crossings andhas a'sits-object the-production of a new and improved device for this purpose.-

Lantern holders for lanterns whichguard roads and particularly'those-which guard railroad crossings now in general use are -objectionable --because---norma-l-" operating stresses, such as wind stresses-and swaying due to the-motion of thegate to -W1fi6h the-holders are-attached;- cause the lantern bail and-"the lantemrwhich' it carries to=rotate-aboutan axisperpendioularto the plane of- 'theroad which the lantern guards with the result that theroad-lig-ht -lens (hereinafter called the signal light)" is often at such an angle to the road-that a person approaching-the gate cannot see thesig-nallight; Further; where theuoadmeets the railroad at an angle othersthan a right angle; this angularity of the lightlenswJ-ith respect to the roadis-accentuatedl For, in the holders-now in general use; it is not possible to adjust the bail so that it'carriestl'ie lanternirr such a-manner that the lightdenstaces directlydown the road which it 'is-supposedto protect.- And even if suchanadjustment isattempted; it is soon disturbed by the normal operating stresses which-act upon the holder and'the 1am tern which it carries. It is an object-ofmy invention to provide" a' lantern holder-which will be free from the'defects hereinbefore more particularly set forth, which will support the lantern in such a manner thatit will 'not rotate about'an axis perpendicular to the =plane-of the road which the lantern guards; andwhich can readily be adjusted' so as to support the lantern in such a manner that the signal light always faces directly down the road no matter at what angle the road meets the railroad.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a lantern holder having the novel characteristics hereinabove set forth which will also be easy to manufacture, assemble and use.

Each of the above objects is attained in the holder which I have shown in the accompanying drawings for the purpose of illustrating my invention and which I will now describe.

In the said drawings Figure l is a perspective view of a railroad crossing and a gate having my novel lantern holder attached thereto. The full lines show the gate, the lantern holder and lantern in the lowered position. The dot and dash lines show the gate and the elements which it carries in the raised position. The road is at right angles to the raih'oad.

(Cla. 2510*52) Figure'-2*'is"a plan-view of a fragrnentof the disclosurershown-in- Figure 1.-'

Figure-3 is-a plan view or'acrossingga'te, lanternholderandlantern wherein theroad is at arr-angle*othei than-a" right angle-to the railroad.

Figure 4' 'is -an enlargedmlan view of a fragment of the gate; the lantern holderand" the lantern shown, in Figure 3 Figure 5" isaplan vie'w-ofmynovel lantern holder: V

Figure 6- is 5-a*fron-tview-of my novel lantern holder and; the: lanterrr carried thereby;

Figure TiS'flf section taken along the lines 'll'of Figure 6;

Referring more specifically to the drawings wherein:similarreference numeralsdenote similar; parts reference numeral I designates my novel-lantern holderas-aunit which consists of the bracket- 2; the; hook and; eye member- 3, the-bail 4; and the cotterpirrS';

The bracket 2 consists of thegateattaching arm 6and"th'e bail. carrying; arm 1'. The gatev attaching armnfi, has suitableapertures formed therein through which extend the screws it. whichseryetoattachthetarmt tothe gate 33,. Thetarm I; terminates inla loop; 8 t the aperture 9 of whichreceivessthe hook portionJ i of the hook andseyecmember 3..

Thevhook and ,eye-Imember, 3s consists. of the two comparatively wide arms I32. which .are. bent atltheir upper-ends to iorm -thecsaidihook l4. and. whichare curved at the-irclowen ends. to define: and zform the;,long,- eye; I5. The arms: l3, the front arm of theeloop flr thehooh mnandsthes rear arm of the loop 8 have the registering apertures 16, H, I! and I2 respectively formed therein which receive the body portion 26 of the cotter pin 5 as shown.

The bail 4 consists of the vertical arms la, the horizontal arms 23 which are twisted at IS, the triangular loop 20 formed by the horizontal arm 2| and the arms 22, and the light attaching hooks 24.

To assemble my novel unit it is only necessary to place the arm 2| of the bail loop 20 within the eye I5 of the hook and eye member 3, then position the hook portion 14 of the hook and eye member 3 within the aperture 9 formed by the loop 8, and then insert the cotter pin 5 through the registering apertures [6, H, I1, l2 and then bend the free ends 21 of the cotter pin into the locking position as shown. To mount the lantern 28 in the bale I8 it is only necessary to insert the hooks 24 into the apertures 32 formed in the ears 3| of the lantern 28. To mount the ensemble upon a guard gate or a railroad crossing it is only necessary to insert the screws I through the apertures formed in the arm 6 of the bracket 1. V

The comparatively wide arms l3 which bound and form the comparatively long eye l of the hook and eye member 3 combine with the comparatively long arm 2| of the loop 20' of the bail 4 to prevent rotation of the bail 4 about an axis, such as 'JK; perpendicular to the plane of 'the road which is guarded by the gate 33. -The angular structure of the loop 20 of the bail 4 diminishes the possibility of relative displacement of the arm 2i with respect to the eye IS. The twist i9 makes it possible to readily turn 7 the arms 23 of the bail 4 so that they are parallel to the road guarded by the gate 33. a

It is believed to be obvious from the foregoing description that a lantern carried by my novel lantern holder can readily be placed in the proper position with respect to-the road which it is intended to protect and once so placed will always remain in the proper position with respect to the said road under all normal operating stresses. If the road meets the railroad at right angles, as shown in Figures v1 and 2, it is only necessary to mount the unit I and the lantern which it carries upon the gate 33. Since rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the road is not possible the lens 29 will always face directly down the line GH which is parallel to the direction BDof the road. If the road meets the'railroad at some angle other than a right angle, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, it is only necessary to. twist the arms 23 about the twist point I9 as a center and cause them to assume the position GH Where they are parallel j with the direction BD ofthe road. Once in this position they will remain there under all normal operating stresses; V

The above disclosure is to be understood as being by the way of illustration only and not by a the way of limitation since many changes may be made in the disclosure here shown without departing from the spirit of my invention which consists in providing the hook member of a lan- Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is: V

1. A lantern holder for use in conjunction with a crossing guard gate consisting of an angular base member one of the angle-arms of which is adapted for attachment to the said gate and the other of the angle-arms of which terminates in a loop at its free end; a hook terminating at its lower end in a comparatively long bail receiving eye positioned within the said loop; and a bail carried by the said hook, the

said bail consisting of two vertical lantern attaching arms, a horizontal arm extending in-' wardly from each of the said vertical arms the two said horizontal arms being twisted at their meeting point, and a hook attaching loop consisting of a horizontal arm and two angularly disposed arms extending upwardly from the first said horizontalrarms, the said horizontal loop arm being positioned within the said bail receiving eye.

2. A lantern holder for use in conjunction with a crossing guard gate consisting of an angular base member one of the angle-arms of which is adapted for attachment to the said gate and the other of the angle-arms of which terminates in a loop at its free end; a hook terminating at its lower end in a comparatively long'bail receiving eye positioned within the said loop; and a bail carried by the said hook, the said bail consisting of two vertical lantern attaching arms, a horizontal arm extendinginwardly from each of the said vertical arms the two said horizontal arms being twisted at their meeting point, and a triangularhook attaching loop extending upwardly from the said horizontal arms, one of the arms of the said loop being positioned within the said bail receiving eye.

3. A lantern holder for use in conjunction with a crossing guard gate consisting of an angular base member one of the angle-arms of which is adapted for attachment to the said gate and the other of the angle-arms of which terminates in a loop at its free end; a hook terminating at its lower end in a comparatively long bail receiving eye positionedjwithin the said loop; and a bail carried by the said hook, the saidbail-consisting of two vertical lantern attaching arms, a horizontal arm extending inwardly from each of the said vertical arms the two said horizontal arms being twisted at their meeting point, and a hook attaching loop extending upwardly from said point of twist and positioned within said bail receiving eye. I

I WILLIAM A. LOWE. 

